Electric control swinging drawer movement device



May5, 1959 H. DOESKEN 2,885,252

ELECTRIC CONTROL SWINGING DRAWER MOVEMENT DEVICE Filed April 9, 1956 D 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR:

Ex 2 flZM/M' ATTORNEX May 5, 1959 'H. DOESKEN I ELECTRIC CONTROL SWINGING DRAWER MOVEMENT DEVICE Filed April 9, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR: ][cn1:7' $065 K8174 ATTOR E United States Patent a CONTROL SWINGING DRAWER MOVEMENT DEVICE Henry Doesken, Los Angeles, Calif. Application April 9, 1956, Serial No. 577,122 3 Claims. (Cl. 312-223) application for US. Letters Patent, Ser. No. 482,444,

filed January 18, 1955.

"In my said copending application the drawers are each swung manually into open or closed position, by separate and independent drawer actuating mechanisms, respectively.

The general object of this invention is to provide an electrical actuating mechanism, operated by a single switch, for swinging any one of a plurality of swingable drawers of a swingable drawer cabinet, into either open position or closed position.

A more particular object of the invention is to provide an electrical drawer actuating mechanism of the character stated for a swingable drawer cabinet, including an adjustable indicator which may be adjusted to cause said drawer actuating mechanism to swing any one of a plurality of drawers into closed position or open position in said cabinet.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter as this specification progresses.

The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawing forming a part of this specification, in which:

' Fig. 1 is'a perspective of my invention partly broken away in the front thereof, showing the drawers in their closed position within the cabinet.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front view of my invention showing the dial for setting the drawer actuating mechanism, in neutral position, and showing the push button for closing the motor circuit.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of my invention taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1. I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan of the motor-driven action for swinging open one of the drawers, taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, showing said action in position released from the drawer to enable other means to close the drawer.

Fig. 5 is a view like Fig. 4, but showing said motordriven action in engagement with the drawer for opening the drawer.

, Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side view of the means for swinging each drawer into its closed position.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in which the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals in all the views, my invention includes generally a cabinet 1, a plurality of superimposed swingable ,drawers 2, operatively mounted in said cabinet, and an actuating mechanism 3 for said drawers also mounted in said cabinet.

The cabinet 1 is formed with a lower horizontal Wall 4, an uppermost horizontal wall 5, side walls 6 and 7, at the side edges of said lower wall 4 and upper wall 5, a rear wall 8 and front vertical walls 9 and 10 extending inwardly toward each other from the front edges Patented May 5, 1959 of said side walls 6 and 7, respectively, to the front concaved edges 11 and 12, respectively, of said lower wall 4 and upper wall 5 of the cabinet 1. The front vertical concave vertical front wall 13 of each drawer 2, respectively, is arcuate, so that when each drawer is swung into closed position within the cabinet 1, its front vertical concave wall 13 coincides with the front concave edges 11 and 12, respectively, of the lower wall 4 and upper wall' 5, of said cabinet 1. The front edge 12 of the upper wall 5 of the cabinet 1 is concave to provide greater space for access to the upper drawer 2 when it is swung into open position than otherwise if said front edge of said upper wall were straight, and said front edge 12 of said upper wall 5 and the front vertical wall 13 of said upper drawer 2 are concave to provide greater space for access to the lower drawer 2, when said upper drawer 2 is closed and said lower drawer is swung into its open position, than would otherwise be provided if said front concave edge 12 of said upper wall 5 and the from vertical wall 13 of said upper drawer 2 were straight.

A vertical shaft 15 extends substantially centrally; through the cabinet 1 and the drawers 2 and is journaled at its lower end in a bearing 16, the lower bearing 16 being secured on the upper inner side of the lower wall 4 of the cabinet 1, and the upper bearing 16 being secured to the under side of said upper wall 5 of the cabinet 1.

In the upper left side of the cabinet 1 an electric motor switch 17 is pivotally mounted on a pivot 18 secured to the inner side of the left side wall 6 of the cabinet 1, to the forward side of which switch is secured a forwardly extending stud 19, and to the rear side of said switch 17 is secured an arm 20 extending rearwardly from said switch. In the upper part of the front wall 9, at the left side of the cabinet 1, is journaled the forward end of a tubular bearing shaft 21, which extends through the front wall 9 of the cabinet 1, and a bearing 9' adjacent the inner side of said front wall, and a head 22 is formed on the forward end of said tubular shaft 21 and turnably fits against the front side of said front wall 9. In said head 22 is formed a central axial cylindrical recess 23, which is closed at its rear end by a rear wall 24, and open at its front end by a central cylindrical opening 25 of smaller diameter than said recess 23, leaving an annular internal flange 26 in said head 22 between said smaller opening 25 and the larger cylindrical recess 23, through which smaller opening 25 extends a push button 27, on the inner end of which is formed an external flange 28 for engaging the inner side of said internal head flange 26, under the influence of a spring 29 in the recess 23, whereby the outward movement of said push button 27 is limited. A small push rod 30 is secured at its forward end in the rear end of the push button 27 and extends rearwardly from said button through the spring 29 and recess 23, and through the bearing shaft 21 in alignment with the switch stud 19 to a short distance forwardly of the forward end of said stud. On the tubular bearing shaft 21 is secured a beveled pinion 31 adjacent the bearing 9' in mesh with a beveled gear 32, secured on the upper end of a vertical shaft 33 within the forward part of the cabinet 1 at the rear of the front wall 9 of said-cabinet, which shaft 33 is journaled at its lower end in a bearing 34 mounted on the lower wall 4 of the cabinet 1, and is journaled at its upper end in a bearing 35 secured on the inner side of the left side wall 6 of the cabinet 1. On said vertical shaft 33 is secured a plurality of earns 36, corresponding in number and position to the number and position of the swingable drawers 2, respectively. Forwardly of each cam 36 in the path of travel of the cam is located a pair of links 37 in the cabinet 1, which links 3 are pivoted at one end to a bracket 38 secured to the inner 'side of the 'side wall '6 of the cabinet 1, and are'pivoted at their other end to one end of another shorter pair of links 39, between the other end of which shorter links is journaled a roller 40, in rotary contact with a vertical motor shaft 41 in the cabinet 1, with the lower end of said motor shaft connected to a motor '42 secured on the inner side of the lower wall 4 of said cabinet 1 and the upper end of said motor shaft journaled in a bearing 43 secured to the inner side of the upper wall 5 of said cabinet. A spring 44 is mounted at its forward end on a bracket 45 secured to the inner side of the front wall 9 of the cabinet 1 with the inner end of said spring bearing against the links 37, whereby said links 37 are maintained in contact with the adjacent cam 36.

The outer rear end of the rear switch arm 20 is connected to the lower end of a spring 46, at 47, the upper end of which spring is connected to an eye 48 secured to the lower side of the upper Wall 5 of the cabinet 1, which spring normally holds the rear switch arm in its elevated position and the switch 17 in its normal open position with its stud 19 in alignment with the rear end of the push button switch actuating rod 30.

Means 50 is provided for swinging each drawer 2, from its open position into its closed position, and for returning the switch 17 to a neutral position to be actuated for again swinging open said last closed drawer or another drawer, when so desired, inthe manner about to be described, which means comprises a drum 51, a 'coil spring 52, connected at its rear end to the inner side of the left side wall 6 by a screw 53, and connected at its forward end at 54 to the rear end of a cord 55, the forward end of which cord is wound on said drum 51, a wire 56 extending through said spring 52, on the forward end of which wire is formed a loop 57, through which said cord 55 extends, and a horizontal eye 58 formed on the rear end of said wire 56, and a vertical cord 59 extending through said eye 58 and connected at its lower end to a screw eye 60, secured in the lower wall 4 of the cabinet 1, and connected at its upper end at 61 to the rear end of the switch arm 20 below the connection 47 of the "lower end of spring 46 to the rear end of said switch arm 20. The drum 51 of each drawer is journaled on the shaft 15 and secured by bolts 62 to the lower wall 63 of the drawer, so that the drawer will turn with the drum. The cord 55 is secured at its forward end to a drum 51 to be wound on the drum or unwound therefrom, in the manner and for the purpose hereinafter more fully described.

On the front face of the front wall 9 of the cabinet 1, adjacent the upper side of the periphery of the turnable head 22 is located the cipher 0, and'on the front (face of the head 22 adjacent the periphery of said head are indicated the numerals 1 and 2 at a suitable distance apart, which numerals 1 and 2 correspond to the two drawers 2 and are adapted to register, respectively, with said cipher 0, as said head 22 is turned, for indicating which drawer 2 will be swung open, when the push button 27 is pressed inwardly. Two numerals 1 and 2 are shown on the front face of the head to indicate the operation of two drawers 2, but additional numerals may be placed on the front of said head to indicate the operation of additional drawers if it is desired to build a-cabinet with additional drawers.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

In Figs. 1, 3 and 4 of the drawing the drawers 2 are shown swung back into closed position within the cabinet I, in which position the front concaved walls 13 of said drawers coincide with the front concaved edges 11 and 12 of the lower and upper walls 4 and 5, respectively, of the cabinet 1 and the bearing head 22 is shown turned to its position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, with the zero indicator 70 on the front face of said head 22 pointing to the zero cipher .71 onthe front face of the front wall 9 of the cabinet 1, and the indicators 1 and 2 on the front face of head 22 shown turned away from said zero cipher 70 and indicating that both the upper drawer 2 and the lower drawer 2 are swung back into their closed positions within the cabinet 1, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing.

If for example it is desired to swing the upper drawer 2 into its open position, the operator turns the head or knob 22 until the indicator 1 on said knob is turned to point to the cipher 0 on the front face of the cabinet front wall 9, whereby the bearing 21 and beveled pinion 31, beveled 'gear 32, vertical shaft 33, and cam 36 adjacent said upper drawer 2 are correspondingly turned until the low part 71 of said cam is turned to a position opposite the adjacent links 37, whereupon the spring 44, engaging said links 37, swings said links inwardly against said lower face of said cam 36 and forces inward the arm 39 connected to said links 37 and the roller 40 journaled on the inner end of said arm 39, until said roller engages the outer side of the arcuate vertical wall 14 of said upper drawer 2. The operator then pushes the push button 27 and push rod 30 inwardly against the tension of the spring 29, until the inner end of said push rod engages the lug 19 of the switch 17 and closes said switch and the motor circuit 72, whereupon the motor 42 and its vertical shaft 41 are rotated, and said roller 40 being in contact with said motor shaft 41 as well as the outer side of the upper drawer wall 14, said roller 40 is rotated by said motor shaft and said upper drawer 2 is thereby turned on the drawer shaft 15 until said drawer is swung outwardly into its open position, and during said outward swinging movement of said drawer the drum 51 secured to the bottom of said drawer is correspondingly turned and the forward end of the cord connected to said drum is wound on said drum, which draws said cord forwardly so that the rear end of said cord connected to the forward end of the spring 52 at 54 stretches and extends said spring, until the connection 54 between the rear end of said cord 55 and the forward end of said spring 52, engages the loop 57 on the forward end of the wire 56 extending through said spring 52 and draws said wire forwardly, whereby the eye 58 on the rear end of said wire through which eye extends the vertical cord 59, engages said vertical cord and said eye 58 draws said cord 59 forwardly between its connected lower and upper ends, and pulls down the rear end of the switch arm 20 on the switch pivot 18 and breaks contact between the switch lug 19 and the rear end of the push button rod 30 and thereby opens the motor switch 17, whereupon rotation of the motor 42, motor shaft 41 and said upper drawer 2 are brought to a stop, with the frictional engagement of the roller 40 with the arcuate wall 14 of said upper drawer hold ing said upper drawer against further opening swinging movement, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The operator then turns the knob 22 clockwise a quarter turn into the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing with the indicator 1 turned from the zero cipher 71 on the front of the front wall 9 of the cabinet 1, during which last turning movement of said knob 22 the high part of the cam 36 is rotated clockwise through the medium of the tubular bearing 21, beveled pinion 31, beveled gear 32 and cam shaft 33 until the high part 72 of said cam 36 engages the links 37 and swings said links forwardly on their pivot and withdraws the links 39 and roller 40 forwardly, disengaging said roller from the periphery of the arcuate wall 14 of said upper drawer 2 as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, whereupon'the spring. 52 contracts lengthwise and pulls the cord 5 5rearwardly and unwinds said cord from the drum 51 of said upper drawer, which rotates said drum and said drawer clockwise and swings said upper drawer back into the cabinet 1 into its closed position in said cabinet, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing, andas said spring 52 contracts and unwinds said cord 55 from said drum 51, the connection 54 of the forward end of said spring 52 and rear end of the cord 55 moves rearwardly and allows the loop 57 on the forward end of the wire 56, together with said wire and the eye 58 on the rear end of said wire to move rearwardly, removing the forward pulling action of said eye on the vertical cord 59 intermediate its ends, whereupon the switch arm spring 46 contracts and swings the switch arm 20 upwardly on the switch pivot 18, which draws the vertical cord 59 up straight through wire eye 58 and swings the switch lug 19 down into its horizontal position in alignment with the rear end of the push button switch rod 30, thus completing the cycle of operations of opening and closing the upper drawer, and bringing the drawer operating mechanism back to its initial position for opening or closing either the lower and upper drawers as above described.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus as disclosed, a cabinet, a drawer turnably mounted in said cabinet, a motor, a shaft rotatable by said motor, a cam shaft, a cam on said cam shaft, a cam link pivoted at one end to a fixed point and engaged by said cam, a roller arm connected at one end to the other end of said link, a roller journaled on the other end of said arm in contact with said motor shaft, an expansion spring bearing against said link for urging said link against said cam, means for turning said cam shaft and said cam to bring either the high part or the low part of said cam against said link, to swing said link, when engaged by said high part of said cam to move said roller arm connected to said link to withdraw said roller from said drawer, and to allow said spring to swing said link, when engaged by the low part of said cam, to project said arm and said roller to cause said roller to contact with said drawer to enable said roller, when rotated by said motor shaft, to turn said drawer into its open position, a motor switch, push-button means for closing said switch to rotate said motor and said motor shaft to cause said roller to be rotated by said motor shaft in contact with said drawer to open said drawer, means actuated by said drawer, when turned into its open position, for opening said motor switch to discontinue rotation of said motor, motor shaft, roller and the opening movement of said drawer, means for turning said drawer back into its closed position, within said cabinet, when said roller is withdrawn from contact with said drawer in open position, and means actuated by said drawer, when turned back into its closed position within said cabinet, for resetting said motor switch to be closed again by said push-button means, when it is again desired to repeat the aforesaid opening and closing of said drawer.

2. In a drawer cabinet as disclosed, a cabinet, a movable drawer, a shaft on which said drawer is mounted in said cabinet, a motor associated with said cabinet, actuating means, operated by said motor, for moving said drawer into its open position with relation to said cabinet, means for setting said actuating means to move said drawer into its open position, a motor circuit, a

switch for controlling said motor circuit, a push-button means for closing said motor circuit switch to operate said drawer actuating means, to move said drawer into its open position, said motor switch being pivotally mounted and including an actuating lug to be engaged by said push-button means for closing said switch, and said switch being formed with an actuating arm, a spring connected at one end to said switch actuating arm, and at its other end to a fixed point, for normally holding said switch in its initial position with its actuating lug in alignment with said push-button means for opening and closing said switch, a vertical cord connected at its upper end to said switch actuating arm and connected at its lower end to a fixed point to hold said vertical cord normally taut under tension of said spring connected to said actuating switch arm, a drum secured to said drawer substantially centrally thereof and turnable on said vertical drawn shaft, a second cord connected at one end to said drum and wound on said drum, the other end of said second cord being connected to one end of another spring, the other end of which spring is connected to a fixed point, a wire extending through said last named spring and formed with an eye on its rear end, through which eye said first vertical cord extends, and a loop on the other end of said wire through which said second cord extends, said second cord being wound on said drum to expand said spring connected to said second cord until the forward end of said spring engages the loop on the forward end of said wire extending through said last named spring, to cause the eye on the rear end of said wire to engage said first cord and pull said first cord forwardly between its ends to pull said switchactuating arm downwardly on the pivot of said arm and said switch, to hold said switch lug out of alignment with said push-button means while said drawer is released in its open position from said motor-operated actuating means to allow said drawer to return to its closed position under the influence of said spring connected to said second cord wound on said drawer drum, and to allow said switch arm spring to return said switch arm and switch to their initial positions, to allow said switch arm to draw said first cord taut, as said second cord unwinds from said drum and releases the pull through said wire and eye on said first cord.

3. A drawer cabinet as disclosed in claim 1, including a second drawer movably mounted in said cabinet to be opened and closed like said first drawer, by means like said means for opening and closing said first drawer, after said first drawer has been opened and closed, as aforesaid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

